What are Bioeffectives?

Bioeffectives are a range of pine needle extracts that have been developed and researched by forest biochemists in the former Soviet Union and Russia over the last 75+ years from several conifer tree species local to areas of Russia, particularly Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris), European Spruce (Picea Abies) and Siberian Fir (Abies sibirica).

Forest biochemistry is the science of identification, extraction and utilisation of the ‘live elements’ of trees, rather than the structural elements that had traditionally been used in the case of pine trees. Intrigued by the ability of the conifer (pine) species to thrive, remain disease free and maintain their green colour in temperatures extremes ranging from -50 to +40 degrees Celsius and (in some cases) extended seasonal periods of 24 hours of darkness, these scientists saw the potential for them to be used as a source of an entire family of natural pharmaceuticals.

In that time over 3.5 million PhD hours of research have been dedicated to extraction, gathering information on, and trialing a family of 100% natural pine needle extracts known as Bioeffectives.

The Soviet researchers’ imaginations were ignited by the ability of pines to transform the energy of the sun into air and chlorophyll even in light deficient conditions. Their dream became to find a way to access life-giving chlorophyll without destroying it in the process.

The pioneering development of ‘forest biochemistry’ has uncovered a new dimension in the potential of the pine tree as a source of natural medicines.

Of particular interest to the generations of Russian scientists have been the extracts and essential oils derived from the live, green needles of these incredibly resilient trees. Within the content of the living material are a multitude of essential nutrients in proportions determined by nature to ensure the survival of the tree.

Whist harder to define in compositional terms, the researchers have been painstakingly careful to also develop extract methods that preserve the essential life force of the unique materials: the end result has been the creation of therapeutic natural extracts that appear to have health benefits beyond simple nutritional supplementation.

They contain many substances that are found naturally in the blood, brain, soft tissue and skin.

They work synergistically, with no negative interactions.

They are utilised readily because similar compounds already exist in the human body. For example chlorophyll, which has a chemical structure similar to that of haemoglobin in human blood (varying mainly in their central element – iron in haemoglobin and magnesium in chlorophyll).

The efficacious nature of pine needles is at odds with the edict of current pharmaceutical practice that considers active ingredients to be single molecule, or small number of molecules with a narrow range of activity.

The pharmaceutical approach predominantly relies on the inhibitory actions of the medicines as opposed to natural medicines like those from conifer needles for which the benefits are gained more from supporting the body’s innate ability to address imbalances that are influencing general or specific health issues.

These Bioeffective extracts represent less than 0.1% of the total weight of a tree but their value is over 1000 times that of cellulose or timber – an amazing fact given that they are obtained from the waste of timber processing.

The extraction process is very gentle and involves no heat and organic solvents, and ensures that the live elements of the needles are extracted unchanged. 70 tonnes of crushed needles yields 1000 litres of concentrated liquid extract.

The green extraction process is also extremely environmentally friendly. It creates no waste. In fact its feedstock is the residual fresh conifer needles and twigs remaining on the forest floor after timber harvesting.

We recommend that you try these amazing products and feel the invigorating natural benefits of these Russian pine trees for yourself.

Whilst there are a whole family of Bioeffectives in Russia there are only 3 products at this stage available outside of Russia. You will find all of these on this site, with some more to come very soon.

As all of the research at this stage has been carried out in Russia and the former Soviet Union, and there are different standards for research based claims in different countries, unfortunately we cannot provide you with extensive therapeutic information on this site. However should you want to investigate more information and research on the pine needle extracts from Russia, we suggest you do a Google “pine needle research”.